Cellphones and Technology
Cellphones The Philippines uses the 900/1800 MHz GSM band. There are two primary ways to get coverage when traveling abroad: pay your existing carrier for a global roaming plan, keeping your US number, or buy a prepaid SIM card to use with a new number on an unlocked phone. The latter is cheaper but more complex - you need a GSM-capable phone (many Verizon phones are not) and it needs to be unlocked (request through the carrier, not guaranteed, or pay a website to unlock). Inexpensive deals on unlocked phones are popular at online deal sites and can also be found on eBay or Amazon. CDMA coverage in the Philippines is atrocious, coverage map viewable here . GSM has coverage almost everywhere. You can verify what bands your phone supports by going to Phonescoop . Dialing Conventions To call the US: +1 (123) 456-7890 (hold 0 for plus) To call the Philippines: 011-63-(9)xx-123-4567 *011 is the exit code to get out of the US and Canada *63 is the country code for the Philippines *9 must be inserted after the country code for a cellphone *xx will be a 1-2 digit area code. Manila is 2, Baguio is 74 *7 digit telephone number follows Unlocked Mobile Phones Team email on December 10th regarding unlocked phones and prepaid SIMs. Matt: Hi all, Tim brought up cellphones today. The "easiest" and cheapest method is to pick up an unlocked phone and a prepaid SIM card. (This also works out so you don't have to do as much travel out and about with an expensive smartphone - if the cheap phone breaks it's not a big deal.) Prepaid SIMs are all over in country and easy to reload at a machine like an ATM. There are lots of phone choices. It just has to support GSM 900/1800 (the network used in the Philippines) and be unlocked, aka not set to use a certain network. I have a ZTE F160 world phone, an unlocked version is currently going for $40 with free shipping on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZTE-F160-Black-UNLOCKED-BRAND-NEW-WORLD-PHONE-/270846932328#ht_500wt_1157 If you want a different phone or more features, and can't find one you like, let me know. I may be able to help you locate a more full-featured GoPhone and then unlock it, I'd be happy to look into it with you. (For example, there's the LG Thrive, 3" full color touchscreen Android phone with WiFi.) For my part, I plan to use the Skype application on my iPhone as much as possible to place long calls whenever I'm "home" on WiFi, and the other phone for emergency calls when we're out and about. Skype If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, some Android phones and Blackberrys , or a laptop, Skype is a very inexpensive option. You'll need to be on a wireless network to use it. Skype to Skype calls are free. If your relatives want to call your Philippines cell number from Skype, it's $0.198 cents a minute for them and free for you (all incoming cell calls are free to receive for local numbers). If you want to call the US from the Philippines via Skype, you can buy an unlimited subscription for $2.99 (yes, that's three dollars) for a month, or $0.023/minute to pay as you go. Since it doesn't matter where you're calling from, only where you're calling to, this is by far the cheapest option. Secondary option: Skype has a feature called "Skype to Go". Once set up, Skype members can use an ordinary landline or mobile to dial a local number that will forward to your international number. This would work well if set up in advance for non-technical family members that just want to dial a local number to reach you overseas. Power Electricity in the Philippines is 220V, 60 Hz. This means that you'll need to make sure whatever you plug in has a "universal" power supply. Most cellphones, computers, and other devices sold in the past 5-10 years probably have this kind of a device, just check the rating. As for plugs, most are Type A (US Standard with 2 blades), some are B (US standard, 3 prong), and some are C (2-prong Europlug). It seems most places should be fine with just US plugs, but a Euro adapter should be brought too - they're cheap and will allow charging at most layover points.